Thursday, June 20, 2013

Baker Publishing Group--Lily Lapp books {Schoolhouse Review Crew}

Are you looking for wholesome reading for your young girls (or boys, even)? Do you enjoy Amish fiction? I have a couple suggestions for you! Meet Lily Lapp, in Life with Lily and A New Home for Lily, published through the Baker Publishing Group.
Baker Publishing Group publishes high-quality writings which represent historic Christianity and serve the diverse interests and concerns of evangelical readers.

We've been enjoying these books, from The Adventures of Lily Lapp series, the past few weeks. They were written by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher.

Mrs. Kinsinger was raised Old Order Amish, but she and her husband chose to leave the Amish church. Her Amish childhood inspired The Adventures of Lily Lapp series. Mrs. Fisher, whose grandfather was raised Plain, has written several books on the Amish. If you are fond of Amish fiction, and Amish life in general, you and your children will enjoy these books.

Life with Lily (length: 288 pages) is the first book in the series. We are introduced to Lily, who is a six-year-old Amish girl, with a younger brother, Joseph, and a new baby brother, Dannie. They live in upstate New York. We learn about her simple Amish life: no electricity; horse and buggy; farm life. She attends school in a one-room schoolhouse, and lives near her grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. We also meet Jenny, the cow, and Chubby, the miniature horse. Read an excerpt.

A New Home for Lily (length: 272 pages) finds Lily and her family moving to Pennsylvania. Lily must adjust to a new house, and a new school. Plus, she ends up with another baby brother! No sisters! Her family gets some goats. So they learn how to milk, and tend goats. Lily makes new friends at the school, too. Read an excerpt.

When these books arrived, I was surprised by the thickness of the books (and the fineness of the font! My poor ol' eyes need large print anymore!)! They are recommended reading for ages 8-12, thus I had Little Bit in mind for this review. He's a struggling reader, so I knew I'd be reading them aloud to him.

None of my other kids would have been reading at this level, or books this thick, when they were 8-10 or 11, or maybe even 12, since we use the "delayed-formal education" approach. (I know some of the others on the Crew had children as young as 7 reading through these books on their own, though.)

Part way through the first book, I realized I was not going to be able to read aloud both books to Little Bit during the review period, so I asked Jen to read the second book herself. Even she enjoys these stories about Lily and her family.


True, these books are written mostly about a little girl, though she does have brothers. For this reason, even boys can enjoy these stories. We can relate to the family dynamics, somewhat, ourselves, since Jen is the only girl, and has three brothers.

I think Little Bit can especially relate to Lily's cousin, Levi, because Levi deals with stuttering. Little Bit struggles with a speech impediment of his own, which I am sure frustrates him to no end! Because of Little Bit's developmental/learning delays, he may also be able to relate a little with Lily's aunt Susie, who has Down's Syndrome.

We can also relate a bit to the farm life, since we have chickens, and goats, ourselves. For instance, a rooster attacked Lily once. Just this morning, our rooster attacked Little Bit! Again.

We had fun with the games and coloring pages at the AdventuresofLilyLapp.com site, too, and look forward to continuing our journey with Lily.

Cost: The Adventures of Lily Lapp books can be purchased in either paperback form, or Kindle form, for $12.99 each. There are two new books coming later this year: A Big Year for Lily, and A Surprise for Lily.

Contact Information:
Website
Email
Address:
Baker Publishing Group
6030 East Fulton Road
Ada, MI 49301
Phone: 800-877-2665

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2 comments:

  1. Boo said last night that after reading these books she feels she understands a little more about the Amish way of life...she wants to read more!
    chickensbunniesandhomeschool.blogspot.com

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  2. We live in an area where there are quite a few Amish and I am thinking the girls would really enjoy these when they get a bit older. I myself have read some Amish fiction and really enjoy it.

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